Date:           Introduced October 1964

Type:           35mm SLR

Lens Mount: FL

Focus:          Manual

Exposure:    No Meter

Flash:           No hotshoe – PCSocket on front

Shutter:        Horizontal ruberized Cloth
                     Speeds from B to 1/1000th
                     X-sych at 1/55th Second

ASA:            10 to 800

Frame Rate:  Manual lever winding

Battery:        None

Notes:   Canon really entered the modern SLR era with the FX model and at the same time they introduced the FP which was a simplified FX that sold for considerably less. This was a totally manual camera with no built in light metering.

At the same time the shutter button lock was omitted and Canon moved away from the key lock on the bottom of the body for opening the back. They went to a button release system which was located on the bottom of the camera.

They did add an film reminder which was located under the rewind crank on the left side of the top plate.

Other than those changes, this was the same camera as the FX. It was apparently available in black but I can find no reference to one on the internet other than the bare reference to some being released.

In case a customer wanted to add light meter functionality a clip on light meter was available which sat in the equipment shoe and connected to the shutter speed dial using a small pin located on the top of the dial.

This is a nice camera. It has a good solid feel to it and it reminds me very much of my Minolta SR-1 which I had purchased ten years earlier. Because it accepts canon lenses which are acknowledged to be very fine lenses this camera is capable of taking very fine pictures.

In the Collection I have the following example:

Collection No.:    C-166

Serial No.:           139148

Condition:           Excellent

Accessories:      none yet

Acquisition:        E-bay from chap in Calgary

The Bell & Howell FP

This was one of those cameras that was marketed by Bell & Howell also. It had the Bell & Howell name on it along with Canon and used Canon branded lenses. Otherwise, it was identical to the Canon FP and parts and accessories were interchangeable.

In the Collection I have the following Bell & Howell / Canon example:

Collection No.:    C-167

Serial No.:           113886

Condition:           Excellent

Accessories:      None

Acquisition:        E-bay from Levenworth, Washington